Hebrew/Eng/Nat

The ruling Likud party in Israel has begun building more Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

And it has now announced the plan to construct new roads in the areas, prompting condemnation from Palestinians and left wing Israelis.

In the first indication of the new Israeli government's settlement policies, hard-line Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon ordered two new highways to be built in the West bank.

The plan calls for one road leading from the West Bank into northern Jerusalem and a second linking central Israel with Jewish settlements inside the West Bank, where some 140-thousand Jews live among 1-point-2 million Palestinians.

The plan, expected to cost about 50 (m) million dollars (U-S), was originally proposed under the previous Labour government, but was never carried out.

SOUNDBITE: Hebrew

We are working according to plan. I know that yesterday everyone got nervous. I don't why they got nervous.

SUPER CAPTION: Ariel Sharon, Minister for Infrastructure

The move has angered Palestinians who want to establish a state in the West bank and Gaza. They say expanding settlements violates the Israel-PLO peace accords and could bring the precarious peace process to a grinding halt.

On Tuesday the Palestinian Legislative Council held a special session to discuss the issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and around Jerusalem.

Palestinians predict violence and bloodshed.

SOUNDBITE:

When they are going to confiscate my future, my water, my land. What does this mean? It's a declaration of war and war means a bloodbath.

SUPER CAPTION: Freih Abu Medein, Palestinian Justice Minister.

Israel's past government curbed settlement construction, except around Jerusalem, in order to open the doors for peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

The Israel-PLO peace agreement says neither side will "initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip," pending the outcome of final status talks.

The Palestinians say that rules out new settlement construction or expansion.

Peace Now, a group that supports the Middle East peace process, warned against the dangers of Israel building more settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.

SOUNDBITE:

"There can be no doubt that the settlements have been always and

will be in the future an obstacle for any peace solution. The only solution that can exist between Israel and the Palestinians is to partition this land into two different sovereignties. The Palestinians will need a certain area where they will have their own sovereignty.

SUPER CAPTION: Mordechai Baron, Peace Now member

Sharon, a leader of the hardline right-wing faction in the governing Likud Party, oversaw a massive construction drive in the settlements when he was housing minister from 1990-1992.

Last year, as part of the Oslo peace accords and under the previous government, rural areas of the West Bank were passed to Palestinian control, while Israel maintained overall responsibility for security throughout most of the West Bank.

West Bank, Tel Aviv, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, 30th July 1996

Beit Jalah, West Bank

1. CU village/zoom out to GV construction of highway overpass

2. construction workers on road

3. bulldozers working on construction

4. by-pass road

Tel Aviv:

5. Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon at presser table

6. Minister Sharon showing new roads on map

7. Minister Sharon SOT (Hebrew)

Efrat, West Bank

8. various construction site

Bethlehem:

9. GV Manger Square, central Bethlehem

10. outside mosque

11. inside Palestinian Council meeting

12. various of members in meeting

13. laptop computer showing Jerusalem and area

14. Khalil Tufakji, Palestinian settlement expert, showing Israeli construction plans in the West Bank

15. GV Palestinian Council

16. SOUNDBITE: Freih Abu Modein, Minister of Justice

Jerusalem:

17. set up Mordechai Baron, Peace Now member

18. SOUNDBITE: Mordechai Baron

Efrat, West bank:

19. Israeli flag over settlement

20. construction

Arabic/Eng/Nat

Plans for a major tourist resort with a casino are causing controversy in the West Bank town of Jericho.

When it opens this autumn, the hotel and casino complex could provide much-needed jobs for hundreds of Palestinians.

But local Islamic leaders are outraged at the idea.

While the arguments rage, the building is being completed and the gambling staff are being trained - behind closed doors.

Here in the West Bank town of Jericho the curtains are tightly drawn at this local restaurant.

That's to hide what's going on inside.

Many in this Muslim town would consider it a shameful secret -- young Palestinians are training to deal blackjack and spin roulette wheels.

These croupiers are to go and work this autumn in a luxury casino and hotel.

It's being built in the desert near biblical Jericho and just across the road from the mud-brick huts of the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp.

Yasser Arafat's government regards the 46 (m) million U-S dollars casino as an

important step on the Palestinians' long road from dependence on international handouts to prosperity.

They believe the Palestinians will have an economic future only if they can attract large numbers of tourists and develop a service industry.

SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)

"No doubt that the Casino will have his own clients that will pour money to the Palestinians, I understand that the other side (Israel) is happy about the project which means cooperation between both of us."

SUPER CAPTION: Mitri Abu Aita, Palestinian Minister of Tourism

But Islamic militants - led by the Hamas group, Arafat's most powerful political rival - say they will try to scuttle the project.

Gambling is "haram", or forbidden by Islam, they say.

Hamas fears that would lead to the dismantling of traditional Palestinian society.

Jericho's preacher and Hamas leader, Sheik Harb Jaber, has allowed members of his flock to do construction work at the site.

But he has said it is totally forbidden to seek employment in the casino itself.

SOUNDBITE:(Arabic)

"Those people that are claiming the casino will pour millions of dollars to the Palestinian people are lying and deceiving their people. This casino will only have a negative effect on the Palestinian people."

SUPER CAPTION: Sheikh Harb Jaber, Hamas leader and Jericho preacher

Already, the project has proved to be a boon for nearby Aqabat Jaber, a camp of 4,000 people and few jobs.

Every morning, workers from the camp trudge across the road to the construction site.

Others stream in from Jericho and other West Bank towns.

Those less lucky sit near the camp's main square, pondering whether it is more important to feed a family or observe the edicts of Islam.

Nabil Yaghi, the owner of a grocery store is one of them.

SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)

"We are not in need of such a project, first it's immoral, and no one will benefit from the people, people have no money to eat."

SUPER CAPTION: Nabil Yaghi, Refugee and shopkeeper

Instructors from Britain, Denmark and elsewhere were brought in by the main casino company.

It's an international company running a number of casinos and related businesses.

Palestinian investors and Arafat's Palestinian Authority are junior partners in the Jericho

project.

The General Director of the project, Alexander Tucek, insists that if it's a success, then everyone will benefit.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"To be successful, I think that is the name of the game in the business is that you want to have a successful business which gives profit to the people that invest the money, or give profit to the people living here and gives profit to the people joining them in the resort, having a successful project is that we expect here, we believe in it."

SUPER CAPTION: Alexander Tucek, General Director of Casino Project

Most Israelis are reluctant to enter Palestinian-governed areas, fearing attacks by Islamic radicals.

However, the lure of slot-machines is powerful, especially now that the casinos in Turkey, once a popular destination for Israeli gamblers, have shut down.

Jericho and Bethlehem, West Bank, August 18th-19th 1998

Jericho, West Bank, August 18th

1. Exterior of Seven Trees Restaurant

2. Pan of training hall with curtains down

3. Trainee moving curtain

4. Shot through window of trainees in hall

5. Long shot of Casino then pulls out to nearby Aqbat Jaber Refugee camp

6. Construction at Casino site pan to building

7. Bulldozer working outside building

8. Workers at site

9. Workers at ladder

Bethlehem, West Bank, August 19th

10. Establishing shot of Palestinian Minister of Tourism, Mitri Abu Aita

11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Mitri Abu Aita, Palestinian Minister of Tourism

Jericho, West Bank, August 18th

12. Various of streets in Jericho

13. Women walking

14. Establishing shot of Harb Jaber, Hamas leader and Jericho preacher

15. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Sheikh Harb Jaber, Hamas leader and Jericho preacher

16. Palestinian children playing inside the camp, pulls out to wide of camp

17. Palestinian women walking in camp

18. Establishing shot of Nabil Yaghi, refugee and shopkeeper

19. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Nabil Yaghi, refugee and shopkeeper

20. Establishing shot of Casino project manager

21. SOUNDBITE: (English) Alexander Tucek, General Director of Casino Project

22. Bulldozer working

23. Workers at site

24. Long shot of Casino

Natural Sound

Palestinians from the West Bank village of al-Gderi gathered on their land on Wednesday to protest its confiscation by the Israeli government.

The Israelis want the land in order to build a road to the Jordanian capital of Amman, but the Palestinians say that more land is being confiscated than is needed.

The Palestinians gathered at the village of al-Gderi, in the West Bank, Wednesday to protest against the confiscation of their land by the Israeli authorities.

The land - just outside the town of Ramallah - will be used by the Israeli government in their plans to build a road to Jordan's capital, Amman.

But the angry protesters say the Israelis are going overboard.

They claim more land than is needed to build the road is being taken away from its rightful owners.

Violence flared up as Israeli soldiers tried to disperse demonstrators who refused to leave.

The protest came as Israel prepared to transfer the nearby town of Ramallah to the Palestinians.

Ramallah is the seventh West Bank town to come under Palestinian control as part of the Israel-P-L-O agreement.

al-Gderi near Ramallah, West Bank, 27 December 1995

1. Dozens of Palestinians standing

2. Palestinians chanting

3. Crowd shouting at soldiers

4. Woman shouting

5. Soldiers hitting crowd

6. Soldiers dragging Palestinians

Natural Sound

The West Bank witnessed more violence between the Israeli army and Palestinians on Sunday.

The latest clashes were over land disputes in the West Bank.

The West Bank also saw protests by disabled Palestinians, angry at being prevented from entering Jerusalem to receive specialist treatment.

Bulldozers were working on a hillside in Halhoul to clear land for road construction when the trouble broke out.

The protestors claim Israel is confiscating their land to build roads for Jewish settlers.

They were out in force on Sunday trying to stop the construction by lying in front of the bulldozers.

Scuffles broke out when Israeli soldiers tried to force the protesters off the hill.

One Palestinian was badly hurt and had to be hospitalised.

Other Palestinians with disabilities are angry that the Israeli authorities makes it hard for them to cross into Israel for special treatment.

These wheelchair-bound Palestinians gathered at a checkpoint into Jerusalem to protest at the bureaucratic procedures preventing them entering the city.

Only those Palestinians with security clearance can cross the border into Israel.

Soldiers dispersed the disabled demonstrators by shoving and pushing them away.

West Bank, 3rd December 1995

(Halhoul, Agency material)

1. MS men talking on side of road

2. MS bulldozer

3. Crowd in font of bulldozer

4. CU man being taken away by police

5. Various of clashes with police and crowd

6. Man carried away on stretcher

7. Man put in ambulance

8. Ambulance drives away

(Al-Ram junction, APTV)

9. WS handicapped march

10. Various of people in wheelchairs

11. Israeli soldiers watching march

12. Palestinian women shouting at Israeli soldier

13. Israeli soldier pushing Palestinian man

14. Israeli soldier pushing with his leg a man on a wheelchair

English/Nat

Israeli members of the organization "Peace Now" joined Palestinian demonstrators in Bethlehem on Saturday to protest at Israel's recent seizure of nearly 2,000 acres of Palestinian land.

The Israeli government says the land will be used to build a security road. But the Palestinians fear it's part of a plan to create a new ring of annexed land around Jerusalem.

Starting from the Church of the Nativity, hundreds of marchers carried banners reading messages of peace and "Don't Confiscate Our Land" banners.

The land seized by the Isreali authorities is known as Jabel Abu Aghaiem. It's 20 kilometers from the disputed city of Jerusalem--- coveted by both Jews and Arabs for its religious symbolism.

The Israelis insist the land is needed to build a security road. The Palestinians fear it's part of the Israeli plan to create a new ring of annexed land around Jerusalem.

SOUNDBITE (English):

"Well, I am part of a very big and popular Palestinian and national protest against the confiscation of land, against the so-called, bypass roads, against the isolation of Jerusalem, and the fragmenting of the ongoing settlement activities."

SUPER CAPTION: Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian legislator

The land was previously owned by 2,400 people from Bethlehem and the nearby towns of Beit Zahur and Beit Jallah.

1. highshot people walking down road carrying banners

2. ws demonstrators walking down road

3. ms protest march

4. Palestinian police watching on

5. "Peace Now" protestors

6. ws protestors marching on hill

7. pan crowd

8. SOUNDBITE (English): Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian legislator

9. pullout Palestinian addressing crowd